VETERNS DAY SALUTE

DoD gives us the day off to support our Service Members, remember those who have served and those who gave their lives defending the rights we enjoy today. Each day I have a job because there are Service Members and families who need the services of all of us. I see the faces and know exactly how I have helped a Soldier today; for that I am blessed. While you, my readers, may contribute more indirectly to meet their needs. The prayers we say for those dear to us, the Care packages we may send, the quilts we may sew or a myriad of other projects we may support all come back to one thing – Salute those who serve and whose patriotism of the heart we may never truly understand. I cry for each Soldier we lose from Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright, tears of joy stream down my face as well as the Soldiers walk off the plane for their homecomings. I may not see Brian or Jeremy as they come and go, but I see their face in every Service Member here. As always, I pray that God will protect them as they defend us and our beliefs. As our country accepts new leadership, I also pray that he will be lead to understand the patriotism of the heart and soul of our Service Members and why they serve. God bless our Troops!

I have finished my first two Warm Window Quilts and Fred dutifully hung them in the north facing windows. I vowed to take pictures all through the project but never figured out how to advertise them on this space. So as the dutiful Mom – I will email them to my daughter(s) and they will do the magic to allow you to view and sigh in admiration!! Fred has given me some limited moments to update the Blog – oh, yes he has been harassing me that I do not write as often as our Gen-X and Gen-Y readers do. I will teach him how to add to the blog in his own style. BTW – two moose and two bears now wander on the sills the surround the fireplace. (It is warmer, too!)

The bright yellow and dark blues of the 50th anniversary of Alaska Statehood license plate was spotted in Arkansas. It does seem a bit strange to celebrate Statehood when I am older than the State. It also brings back wonderful memories of the year Nebraska turned 100 – I was just a young teen! The relatives in the AR area chastised me (again) about not sharing a photo of that and the Jeep it resides on! My lame excuse was the care was covered in road slime. My wonderful husband made it all beautiful and shiny and I thought I will just take the picture the next day. Soon a week has gone by and it has rained again. It’s a holiday, so I will have the picture on the same email as the quilts!

Pumpkin carving took on a “life of its own” for us this year. A dear friend invited us to a fundraiser for Special Olympics. The host has a special affection for (construction) engineer designers. (And I always tease the engineers I work with that none of them are socialites and never color outside the box!) Back to the story – The host invited local companies to have teams of 3 people, bring your own tools, carve a pumpkin on site in 51 minutes and then auction them off! Great plan, except for the team who did not read the part about bring your own tools! The Petroleum Club (popular elite room of the oil industry) was the place and we started off with some good wine and food. Unknown to all invitees at the beginning, the buffet line would become the “pickings” of the carvers later. The carvers grouped around their assigned pumpkins trying to determine if the plan they had would work, or if creativity of the moment would have to be invoked. At the appointed hour, the carving began. The ingenious team with no tools managed at first with table fork, spoon and manicured fingernails. As the crowd encouraged them, one fine chef found seafood knife to help them. The creations that emerged were incredible. Pumpkin #1 became a T-Rex with flaming eyes and claws. On the reverse side was an erupting volcano spewing “pumpkin” colored lava with cauliflower clouds. (Thanks to the buffet line.) Pumpkin #2 evolved into a geometric hanging lamp reminding everyone of a Japanese garden. The third on was bouncy Betty Boop with glowing eyes and other body parts! Governor Sarah Palin graced the next orange orb. It looked like a pen and ink drawing with backlighting – common to the editorial cartoon pages except that it was a beautiful, delicate full face view. The next carvers took great delight in making several small cutouts that are common to Alaska Statehood anniversary. These included the bear, moose and the logo for all those memory items we and the tourists will buy. The last great pumpkin became a flaming eyed Birch Bark Beetle emerging from a tree trunk with broccoli mold and lichen along the tree trunk. Fall leaves that once decorated the buffet table became the leaves for the Beetle to crunch. This was the creation of the team with no tools! The lights were dimmed, the candles lit and our Halloween spirit soared as we applauded the artists and their creations. The auctioneer began his chant just as the “ahhs and ohhs” became whimpers in the crowd. As we thought of our grandchildren, we raised our bid on the T-Rex. He came back to Chugiak, but found a home on the steps of a five year old neighbor girl. Her belly full of giggles erupted like the volcano on the pumpkin when she spied the adornment to the porch. The highlight of the auction – the carvers of the Birch Beetle bought their own creation for triple the amount of every other jack-o-later! The parting comment, “My manicured nails are buried somewhere in that orange thing and I want to admire them for at least another week!!

As our Blog indicates, we will always be Nebraskans first and Alaskans just because we live here. Each Saturday we try and find the favorite team on the tube and more often than not find that it is not a regional game in our area. The past few weeks we have cheered and/or screamed as our team inched out a win or spotted the opposers 28 points in the first four minutes of the game. We call the Jaybird fans when they lose to us or my brother to brag about the score. The Husker flag waves to passer-bys from our front porch and the mailbox is adorned with the logo as well. We will raid the neighbor’s yard who dare to put up character cut-outs of their favorite team, especially on Husker game day when they are the opponent. Still, at the end of the day, the tailgate party remains the favorite part of all these armchair quarterbacks. GO BIG RED!!!